Last night marked the end of Sentinel-2A's first three days in space, which saw teams on the ground working around the clock to ensure the spacecraft is ready for its 'colour vision' mission.

The ESA-developed Sentinel-2A satellite lifted off on a Vega rocket from Europe's Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana at 01:52 GMT on 23 June (03:52 CEST; 22:52 local time, 22 June).

The 1.1 tonne satellite carries a high-resolution optical payload that will gather some of the best global imagery ever delivered from space of our land and vegetation for Europe's Copernicus environmental monitoring programme.

This information will mainly be used for agricultural and forestry practices, as well as help manage food security, monitor pollution in lakes and coastal waters and contribute to more rapid disaster mapping.